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Crawley family
The Crawley family are an aristocratic and wealthy family, who live in and hold rights to the Downton Abbey estate; they have held the rights to Downton Abbey since at least 1772, when the first Earl of Grantham actually became an Earl. He, along with ever member of the Crawley family - which includes every Earl of Grantham, their siblings, wives and descendants, excluding Tom Branson who is probably Catholic (and possibly Sybil) - are likely to be Protestant (Anglican, to be precise), but the there is no explicit mention of this.Julian Fellowes, the show's creator does say that there is an anti-Catholic leaning to the the Crawleys. The Telegraph, Downton Abbey's anti-Catholic plot by Tim Walker, 7:29AM BST 22 Oct 2012 By 1912, there had been six previous Earls, with Robert currently being the Seventh Earl'The Chronicles of Downton Abbey', a book released alongside Series 3, confirms Robert is the SEVENTH Earl, meaning there were six before him.. There are many known members of the family and equally as many unknown members of the family. Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, widow of Patrick Crawley, 6th Earl of Grantham, is the matriach of the family and often clashes with Isobel Crawley, mother of the heir, Matthew Crawley. Violet has two children, Rosamund - the rich widow of banker Mr Marmaduke Painswick - and Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham, who married rich heiress Cora Levinson in 1889. Robert and Cora had three daughters, Mary, Edith and Sybil Crawley. Mary, Edith and Sybil, being girls, could not inherit the title of Earl of Grantham, and after the deaths of Robert's cousin, James and his son, Patrick, on the Titanic in 1912, the title of 'heir' passed to Robert's third cousin-once-removed, Matthew Crawley. In 1919, Sybil married the former Crawley family Chauffer, Tom Branson, and by Christmas that year was pregnant. Matthew proposed to Mary again; she accepted and the two became betrothed and married in 1920. In August 1920, Sybil died after giving birth to a daughter, Miss Sybil Branson There are several members of the Crawley family who have died or have not been seen. These people include: *Patrick Crawley, 6th Earl of Grantham, Violet's husband who died between 1899 and 1912. *A distant aunt from 1860 who, according to Edith, married a Gordon This woman may not actually be a Crawley and may be Violet's sister, Roberta, as the dates fit with the battle of Lucknow in 1857 and the rough ages of Roberta and Violet.. *James Crawley, the Cousin of Robert, who died on the Titanic in 1912; he did not get along with Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham In Episode 1.01 Violet says "But I never cared for James, he was to much like his mother, and a nastier woman never drew breath.". *Patrick Crawley, the son of James and Mary's fiance, who died with his father on the Titanic. *The father of James Crawley who was the brother of Patrick, the brother-in-law of Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, the uncle of Robert and Rosamund and the grandfather of Patrick. *The mother of James Crawley, who Violet disliked Violet claimed that "a nastier woman never drew breath".. *The 1st Earl of Grantham *The sister of the First Earl of Grantham who lived in the Dower House when it was first built so that she could be close to her brother. *The Second Earl of Grantham *The Third Earl of Grantham *The Fourth Earl of Grantham *The Fourth Countess of Grantham, the grandmother of Patrick Crawley, 6th Earl of Grantham *The Fifth Earl of Grantham, father of Patrick Crawley, 6th Earl of Grantham. *Mr Marmaduke Painswick who is the late husband of Rosamund. *In 1914 Cora, Countess of Grantham, bacame pregnant with a son who, had he lived, would have become Viscount Downton on his birth and eventually followed Robert as the 8h Earl of Grantham; it was not to be, however, as an act of spite by Sarah O'Brien jeopardized the Countess' life and led to the death of the unborn heir. *Cousin Freddie, a cousin that Sybil mentions in 1913, may be a member of the Crawley family through his possible mother, Rosamund; however, it is more likely that Freddie is a son of Harold Levinson and is only included here because it is possible, if not confirmed, that he is a cousin through Rosamund. References